Dinosaur, season 2. A review.

Dinosaur, the award-winning Scottish sitcom, is back on UK TV screens after two years. Since season 1, it has won a Scottish BAFTA and other awards. However, it was not shown on BBC’s main channel during prime time; instead, it aired on BBC3 at 10pm on Sunday nights. This acclaimed show was not given the recognition it deserved. It is available on Hulu in other regions.

Dinosaur stars Ashley Storie as Nina, a palaeontologist at Glasgow Museum, who shares a flat with her sister Evie. Nina’s cosy world is thrown into disarray when Evie says she is engaged to be married after only six weeks with her fiancee, and wants Nina as her matron of honour. The problem being Nina is autistic and likes to do things the same way. At the end of the first season Evie is married and Nina has a position on a dig on the Isle of Wight.

What is typical of this show is that it is the story of a dysfunctional family. What is different is that the Storie is from the perspective of autistic Nina, though the show is not about autism. Storie, who also co-write Dinosaur with Matilda Curtis, is autistic herself and it shows. The way that autism is portrayed is authentic. Nina’s autism is both fundamental to every scene of Dinosaur, and not what it’s about at all. However there is a gag, playing on stereotypes, that everyone in the palaeontology department is autistic. Don’t let that put you off though, the gags come thick and fast in this comedy.

Season 2 is about Nina’s return to Glasgow and the museum from the dig, trying to get back with her geeky boyfriend Lee, but with the compecation that American Clayton, who was also on the dig is now in Glasgow and working in the Museum paleontology department, he is also besotted with Nina, whilst Nina is more interested in Lee. This love triangle drives th comedy of the series. But that’s all the spoilers I’m letting out.

Dinosaur has a unique charm, but it can be hectic, especially when Nina’s autistic mind becomes overwhelmed. When she feels stressed, she needs to take an autism walk to clear her thoughts.

Watch it. You’ll get an insight into autism whilst having a good laugh.

I watched on BBC iplayer where both seasons are still available to view.